Innovative FOCUS: A Program to Foster Creativity and Innovation in the Context of Education for Sustainability

Abstract

This study is based on the urgent need to adapt education systems to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It examines the implementation of the “Innovative FOCUS” program at the secondary school level to promote creative problem-solving skills in the sustainability context. The Innovative FOCUS program employs a two-stage approach, integrating flexibility, originality, creative personality development, and strategic planning. It includes in-service teacher training and a challenge-based learning framework in which students engage in real-world sustainability projects. The program’s effectiveness was evaluated through teacher and student feedback focusing on the development of prototypes addressing sustainability challenges. The implementation of the InFOCUS program in 19 secondary schools demonstrated significant effectiveness. Teachers indicated that the program’s tools were effective in promoting students’ creativity and problem-solving skills. Of the 64 student teams, 62 successfully developed innovative prototypes, reflecting an improved capacity for innovative thinking and underlining the practical impact of the program. The Innovative FOCUS program effectively integrates sustainability education with creative and critical thinking skills. It demonstrates the potential of challenge-based learning in transforming students’ approaches to real-world problems, aligning education with 21st-century sustainability goals. The program’s success highlights the importance of such innovative approaches in contemporary education systems.

1. Introduction

1.1. Education for Sustainable Development

Urgent global challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation, demand a fundamental shift in our lifestyles and a transformation in the way we think and act. Education systems bear the responsibility to align with 21st-century challenges, promoting the right values and skills for sustainable and inclusive growth and a peaceful community. Therefore, students need to acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that empower them to become agents of change for sustainability. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a well-established approach that provides learners with the skills they need to find new ways to act sustainably in complex situations [1].

The following key competencies are generally considered crucial for promoting sustainable development [2,3,4]:

• Systems thinking competency: The ability to recognize and understand interrelationships and analyze complex systems;
• Anticipatory competency: The ability to envision possible and desirable futures and to assess the consequences of actions;
• Normative competency: The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values on which one’s own actions are based and to negotiate sustainability values in a context of conflicting interests;
• Strategic competency: The ability to jointly develop and implement innovative measures that promote sustainability at a local level and beyond;
• Cooperation competency: The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives, and actions of others (empathy); to deal with conflict in a group; and to facilitate collaborative problem solving;
• Critical thinking skills: The ability to question norms, practices, and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values and actions; and to take a stand in the sustainability discourse;
• Self-awareness: The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society and to continuously evaluate one’s own actions;
• Integrated problem-solving skills: The overarching ability to apply various problem-solving approaches to complex sustainability problems and to develop viable solutions that promote sustainable development.

To promote these skills, interactive, experiential, learner-centered, and action-oriented pedagogy are mentioned in the literature as essential elements for successful ESD [5]. These teaching methods ensure that students work together on group tasks, solve real-life problems for an external client, go on field trips, or discuss problems in small groups. The teacher acts less as a knowledge provider and more as a facilitator.

In this context, transformative teaching also makes a significant contribution to successful ESD. Transformative teaching aims to transform young people by fundamentally changing the way they understand themselves and others and how they engage with the world around them. Thus, in transformative teaching, teachers use strategies that create positive ESD changes in students’ lives. Slavich and Zimbardo [6] proposed six core methods: (1) creating a shared vision for a project, (2) providing mastery experiences, (3) challenging students intellectually, (4) personalized attention and feedback, (5) designing experiential lessons, and (6) encouraging pre-flection and reflection.

1.2. Divergent Thinking and 21st-Century Skills for Real-World Problems

Special skills are needed so that young people can proactively tackle and solve future challenges and problems. In this context, 21st-century skills are often mentioned [7,8,9,10]. These include cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills.

The four Cs—critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication—are emphasized. Unsurprisingly, creativity is referred to as one of the 21st-century skills, as the common definition of creativity involves creating something new, relevant, and valuable [11,12]. Creative behavior is one of the most important forms of human capital and plays a major role in innovation or design processes, for example. The promotion of creative skills is more important than ever, due to the various challenges society is facing today [13].

Following the multivariate approach, several sources are necessary for creative performance. These resources can be divided into four major areas [14,15]. One of these areas is cognition, which includes mental flexibility, the ability to make associations, and extensive content knowledge. The second area includes personality traits (e.g., willingness to take risks or tolerance of ambiguity) and the motivation to create something (e.g., intrinsic motivation or curiosity). The third area, emotions, comprises affective states and moods. The fourth area, environment, includes all influences of the social and physical environment.

A crucial component of creative cognition is divergent thinking [16,17]. It is closely linked to idea generation—that is, the phase in which as many different solutions as possible are to be found for an open problem [18]. Three main aspects of divergent thinking are often mentioned in the literature: fluency, flexibility, and originality [19,20,21,22]. Fluency is the total number of ideas generated. Flexibility is the variety of answers or the number of different categories identified, and originality is the uniqueness of the answers. Among the three dimensions mentioned, flexibility is the most important aspect of divergent thinking, especially for problem solving [23].

1.3. Challenge-Based Learning and Entrepreneurship Education

A promising approach to realizing sustainability education in schools is challenge-based learning (CBL). CBL is a cross-curricular approach in which students learn to recognize complex challenges and develop and implement solution strategies for sustainable development. The learning experience involves the different perspectives of those involved and encourages them to work together as a team to find and implement a solution that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable [24,25]. A characteristic of CBL is that students not only learn important Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) skills as part of the challenge but also that the solutions developed serve a broader purpose and can contribute to added value for society and nature.

A similar approach to CBL can be seen in entrepreneurship education (EE). This approach also plays a central role in shaping sustainable societies, as it focuses on developing an innovative, solution-oriented mindset. This educational approach involves equipping people with the knowledge, skills, and mindset necessary to start and run businesses. However, Lindner [26] emphasized that EE focuses not only on business creation but also on developing skills that enable individuals to become responsible, active citizens. This includes the promotion of initiative, creativity, risk taking, and project management skills [27].

Entrepreneurial skills include opportunity recognition [28], creative problem solving, and teamwork [29,30,31]. However, the ability to turn ideas into action is also crucial. To achieve objectives, one must be able to plan, manage, and complete a project [32]. The importance of this education is emphasized by educational institutions worldwide by integrating entrepreneurship courses into the curricula of different educational levels [33,34].

One approach to EE is entrepreneurial challenge-based learning, which combines action- and reflection-based pedagogy. This method encourages learners to face real challenges and promotes practical skills, in addition to cognitive, personal, and social skills [35]. Entrepreneurship education can be seen as an important part of the development of a sustainable society. It provides people with the mindset and ability to tackle social and environmental challenges. By fostering entrepreneurial skills and attitudes from an early age, students build skills at school to be innovative and responsible drivers of sustainable development in their future careers.

1.4. In-Service Teacher Training for Sustainability Education

A current review of in-service teacher training programs found that the majority of programs are too theoretical and that teachers do not integrate the content taught into their teaching practice [36]. One-off in-service training workshops are not enough to improve teaching practice and thus student achievement [36]. More than 90 percent of professional development interventions consist of short-term training [37].

Redman et al. [38] identified seven design principles for in-service teacher training programs on sustainability for K-12 teachers:

• ESD training programs should increasingly focus on key competencies in the field of sustainability and be less defined by topics such as energy, water, and consumption. Core competencies for sustainability include systemic thinking, future thinking, strategic thinking, values thinking, and interpersonal skills [39]. Thus, ESD education programs should be defined less by the topics covered and more by the mindsets, knowledge, values, and attitudes that the topics encompass [38];
• The training program should empower teachers to become leaders in sustainability. As behavioral scientists have recognized the important role of opinion leaders in bringing about long-term change [40], participating teachers should be assigned a leadership role for sustainability issues in the school after completing the program;
• As part of the CPD program, teachers should participate in co-learning mode. This refers to teachers from a school working together to improve a particular component of student learning based on shared values. Therefore, teacher co-learning is effective in changing teaching practice and improving student achievement [41];
• Successful training programs should offer a high number of contact hours (more than 30 h) and last between six and 12 months [37];
• The CPD program should be engaging and contain high levels of active and solution-focused learning, as it provides the opportunity to combine real classroom experiences and collaborative reflection [42,43];
• The professional development program should be practice-oriented, meaning that teachers use the new activities and methods in their own classrooms between the individual workshop rounds and reflect on their experiences in joint reflection sessions [44];
• The training program should be assessed through formative evaluation, for example, by applying Guskey’s [45] evaluation criteria: (a) participants’ satisfaction, (b) participants’ learning, (c) school organization support, (d) participants´ use of new skills, and (e) the impact of new methods on student performance.

Even though the topic of sustainable development has been addressed in schools in recent years and students have developed an awareness of the concepts of sustainable development, this is hardly reflected in their behavior. This is due to the curricula, which are strongly focused on raising awareness but not on cultivating sustainable development [46]. To reach a higher proportion of active youth, effective ways should be sought to enable students to apply the knowledge they have acquired about sustainability in real-life projects. This requires innovative teaching approaches and the development of student and teacher competencies [47].

However, review studies have shown that most case studies dealing with the goals of sustainability come from the primary school sector. In this educational sector, it seems easy to integrate ESD into the classroom, as a single teacher often covers the majority of the curriculum [48]. The integration of multiple disciplines in ESD seems to be much more difficult in secondary education due to the clear separation of subjects [9]. However, secondary school teachers also cite overloaded curricula, lack of knowledge about ESD, and insufficient knowledge of effective project management strategies as barriers to the implementation of ESD at the secondary level [49].

Regarding current research in the context of ESD, the authors miss effective teaching programs that aim to promote creative and original ways of thinking. Creative thinking plays a crucial role in the development of innovation. Through creative thinking, original ideas are discovered and developed, which in their practical implementation lead to innovations [50]. Creative thinking refers to the ability to generate creative ideas by looking at a problem from different perspectives. This way of thinking is particularly important for innovation because it leads people to think outside the box and find unique solutions that go beyond conventional or traditional approaches.

To close the gaps mentioned in the paragraphs above, a team from the University of Education Upper Austria has developed a teaching program called “Innovative FOCUS”, or “InFOCUS” for short. This program is designed to transform the way students think and act in terms of ESD. To enable students to learn the contents of the program and thus acquire the necessary skills for sustainable education, teachers from secondary schools in Austria have been trained and accompanied for an entire teaching year as part of in-service teacher training since 2020.

This article gives a brief overview of the content of the InFOCUS program and provides initial results from in-service teacher training in 2021 and 2022, in which secondary school teachers from 19 schools were trained and accompanied. The study provides results regarding the effectiveness of implementation at the teacher and pupil levels. This work offers a practical approach that makes an important contribution to promoting education for sustainability in secondary schools.

2. The Innovative FOCUS Program

2.1. Goals

Education for sustainable development can succeed if it is based on the principles of transformative education and central ESD skills are taught [1]. For this reason, the InFOCUS program was developed to promote effective problem-solving skills in students and, in particular, to prompt a transformation in their thinking and actions. The objectives of the InFOCUS program can therefore be described as follows:

• To create awareness that prosperity, peace, and an intact ecology are interdependent and can only be created if our ways of thinking and acting are built on the foundation of sustainable development;
• To teach divergent thinking strategies and thus the ability to abandon traditional ways of thinking, enabling young people to find innovative answers to real challenges that serve sustainable development;
• To develop students’ anticipatory skills and their ability to understand, evaluate, and design desirable future scenarios;
• To strengthen students’ metacognitive skills, such as self-awareness, to reflect on and adapt their own thinking and actions while implementing innovative solutions;
• To develop students’ cooperation skills and thus their ability to collaborate with other people in a team on a common cause, to deal with conflicts within the team, and to respond empathically to other team members;
• To encourage students to recognize and strengthen their creative personality and develop high self-efficacy expectations;
• To develop students’ strategic and entrepreneurial skills by working with team members to launch a project and implement actions that promote sustainability on a local and global level.

Building on these objectives, a two-stage program was developed. Figure 1 shows the most important contents of the two stages.

In Stage 1, students first learn the background of the SDGs and their importance for a peaceful and ecological future. In addition, students learn divergent thinking strategies, such as flexible thinking (see Section 2.2.1), using specially developed cognitive tasks so that they can generate unconventional ideas in the brainstorming phases of later projects by changing their perspectives. In addition, familiar creativity techniques (see Section 2.2.2) are also used at this stage to gain initial experience of creative idea generation using general and sometimes fictitious problems. During such learning phases, which all take place in teams, the students use reflection tools (see Section 2.2.3) to acquire metacognitive skills, reflect on their team competence, and learn the background to effective team processes. All these exercises prepare them for the next stage.

Stage 2 is an activity-based project lesson in which young people apply the content and skills they have learned from Stage 1 and take on a real SDG challenge. The aim here is for students to go through all the phases of a creative process and acquire strategies for planning and implementing a project (see Section 2.2.5)—from problem identification and problem definition, brainstorming, and idea selection to the development and pitching of a prototype in the best-case scenario, even up to the actual implementation of the idea.

The InFOCUS program therefore intends to have an impact on three areas: (1) a change from an entrenched, convergent way of thinking to an open, divergent way of thinking; (2) a strengthening of the creative personality based on the Inner Development Goals; and (3) the empowerment of young people to implement their own innovative ideas into concrete action through acquired strategic skills.

In the following section, the specific content of the InFOCUS program will be discussed. Next, the InFOCUS Challenge for students is described, in which young people use the acquired InFOCUS content to find and implement innovative ideas for an SDG challenge. Finally, the in-service teacher training is described, in which teachers acquire the content of the InFOCUS program to pass it on to their students.

2.2. Contents of the InFOCUS Program

A team of 15 STEM teachers and researchers from the University of Education Upper Austria have been working on the development and research of the InFOCUS program since 2010. The overall result of this development and research project was the crystallization of five content domains that are necessary for the development of essential ESD skills. These domains are represented by the acronym FOCUS: flexibility, originality, creative personality, unconscious mind, and strategies.

Each domain of the InFOCUS program includes numerous tools and reflection instruments, most of which were developed by the team at the University of Education Upper Austria. Furthermore, proven creativity techniques and strategies from innovation management were adapted and integrated into the program.

A special aspect of the InFOCUS program is the wide variety of tools developed and selected. The program can therefore be seen as a holistic arrangement, as tools are available for every phase of the innovative process and are used individually—for example, on a cognitive level, through the promotion of divergent thinking styles; on an emotional level, through the metacognition of creative personality traits; on a social level, through the promotion of team competence; and on a strategic level, through the application of specific creativity techniques.

The following list in

Table 1. Brief overview of some contents from the five domains of the InFOCUS program.

	Goal	Contents
F	Flexibility	Cognitive thinking tools like Thinkflex from the SCIP program
O	Originality	Creativity techniques like APIFOS, morphological analysis, and reverse brainstorming
C	Creative Personality	Reflection tools like “BE A COMET” or Mission: Possible (card set for metacognition)
U	Unconscious Mind	Embodiment tools like asynchronous exercises, juggling, meditation, and Qigong
S	Strategies	Project management tools like dragon dreaming and design thinking

provides an initial overview of the tools contained in the five domains, which are then described in more detail.

2.2.1. Flexibility

In the context of real-world problem solving, the particular importance of flexibility, i.e., thinking from a variety of perspectives, is repeatedly emphasized [11,51]. In the InFOCUS program, flexibility is defined as a person’s ability to adopt different perspectives on a particular problem. Furthermore, it is the ability to generate a variety of different ideas for solving a problem. Therefore, the promotion of flexibility plays a central role in the program.

To this end, tools from the “Scientific Creativity in Practice” (SCIP; previously known as “flex-based learning”) program were selected [52] and integrated into the InFOCUS program. The SCIP program was developed by a team of teachers and researchers from the University of Education Upper Austria and is specifically designed to promote scientific creativity, with a special focus on flexible thinking and acting in STEM lessons.

Thinkflex tasks should be mentioned here as an example. These cognitive thinking tasks promote divergent thinking and thus mental flexibility. To support this, a perspective check is used, which leads the students to different perspectives and thus enables them to think in different categories. Thinkflex tasks were completed by students in both Stage 1 as preparation and Stage 2 while working on a particular challenge. An example of a Thinkflex task can be found in the Supplementary Materials (see Figure S1). A more detailed description of the SCIP program and the tools used in it can be found in the work of Haim and Aschauer [52].

2.2.2. Originality

Divergent thinking plays a crucial role in problem solving for finding original ideas [53]. It consists of the components of fluidity, flexibility, and originality. While fluidity is defined as the ability to find as many answers to a problem as possible, flexibility provides ideas from a wide variety of perspectives. Lastly, originality results from the uniqueness of a potential solution [19].

To generate original ideas, selected exercises from the SCIP program, such as “Cocktail Clusters” or “Original Stories”, were also integrated. In addition, creativity techniques that are frequently used in the field of innovation were included in the program.

The following is a brief introduction to three creativity techniques that can support the generation of original ideas:

• Morphological analysis: This systematic creativity technique was developed by the Swiss astrophysicist Zwicky. The first step is to break down the task question into certain parameters that are independent of each other and write one below the other in a table. The second step is to search for all possible values of each parameter. This is the phase in which strong divergent, open thinking is required to generate as many values as possible. In the final step, individual characteristics are selected systematically or intuitively for the problem solution [54,55]. An example of a worksheet can be found in the Supplementary Materials (see Figure S2);
• Impulse word/image associations: With the help of randomly selected words or images, the first step is to create associations that initially have nothing to do with the actual problem. The associations are then linked to the problem and used as inspiration for finding original ideas. Here, bisociation is used to create meaningful links between the word/image associations and the problem. This technique usually leads to the generation of original ideas and is suitable for the search for original names as well as for the further development or improvement of products or services;
• Reverse brainstorming: In this technique, the problem is reversed, and solutions are sought that are initially intended to have the opposite effect. For example, solutions are sought that are intended to prevent or worsen something. This approach tricks the evaluation system, which leads to the generation of funny ideas that are far removed from expectations. The counterproductive ideas are then used as a source of inspiration and are linked to the actual problem. This technique can also be used to develop original ideas [56,57];
• APIFOS: This tool, developed by the authors, is an acronym that stands for three steps: analyze product, identify weaknesses, and offer solutions. This technique makes it relatively easy to improve existing products or services. APIFOS helps uncover weaknesses that others overlook. In the first step, the product is examined carefully, analytically, and without prejudice. The second step looks for obvious problems and hidden weaknesses. In the final step of the APIFOS tool, a few weak spots are selected and various solutions are offered for them. An example of an APIFOS worksheet can be found in the Supplementary Materials (see Figure S3).

2.2.3. Creative Personality

Self-awareness competency (the ability to reflect on one’s own role in the community and continuously analyze and evaluate one’s own actions) and cooperation competence (the ability to understand the needs and actions of others and the ability to deal with conflicts) represent two of eight key competencies for sustainability [3]. The ability to work creatively is therefore largely determined by personality [58].

To strengthen creative personality traits, such as metacognition, self-efficacy, openness to new things, resilience, and perseverance, special reflection tools have been developed that are used with the students during the creative process, depending on the situation. The following is a brief description of the two selected reflection tools:

• Shorty & Flexy: This tool was developed for the metacognition of one’s way of thinking. It helps students analyze their generated ideas and thoughts. It uses the analogy of the brain as a library where the books represent all our knowledge and experiences, and the thinking processes are represented by two imaginary actors, Shorty, and Flexy. In this analogy, Shorty represents a comfortable character who is quick to offer routine solutions. Flexy represents a character who loves to change perspectives to produce creative ideas and break out of the expected framework, thus representing original thinking. More details on the reflection tools can be found in the work of Haim and Aschauer [52].
• Mission: Possible: This is a self-developed set of cards that helps young people reflect on the entire creative process from brainstorming to the final presentation of the results on a metacognitive level. The cards are used to formulate visions, describe the course of the project, reduce doubts and tensions in the team, increase diminishing motivation, reflect on team processes, and recognize team successes. This set of cards is closely linked to the Inner Development Goals and is used to highlight weaknesses or problems, as well as strengths and successes. One of the 65 cards is shown in the Supplementary Materials (see Figure S4).

2.2.4. Unconscious Mind

A meta-analytical review of 37 studies on the effect of mindfulness interventions on students’ creative performance found a positive effect between mindfulness and creativity [59]. Henriksen et al. [60] also found evidence of a positive link between mindfulness and creative performance. Researchers agree that mindfulness interventions can improve cognitive processes, such as executive control (e.g., attention, working memory, and emotion regulation). Beaty et al. [61,62] showed that cognitive switching between the executive control network (ECN) for idea evaluation and the default mode network (DMN) for idea generation enables an improved ability for divergent thinking.

For this reason, mindfulness exercises were included in the InFOCUS program to increase students’ performance in creative idea generation. These include synchronized movements with hands and legs, juggling, meditative sessions, and simple exercises from Qigong.

2.2.5. Strategies

The InFOCUS program includes a collection of recognized strategies that are frequently used in the field of innovation management. These strategies guide students from problem identification and definition through idea generation and the selection of suitable, innovative ideas to the development of a prototype. For example, the design-thinking (DT) method is an active learning methodology with an iterative design process that encourages individuals to empathize with the users of a product or service and work in teams to find creative solutions. DT contributes to the promotion of cross-cutting skills in education, such as critical and creative thinking, leadership skills, cooperation skills, project management, and presentation skills, among others.

To fully utilize the potential of the DT method, a divergent mindset of the users is a prerequisite. Since not everyone has this mindset, building a design-thinking mentality is of great importance [63]. For this reason, the promotion of flexibility and originality is central to this program.

2.3. The InFOCUS Challenge for Students

For young people to become successful agents of change, it is not enough for them to simply develop an awareness of sustainability; they must also be able to apply the knowledge they have acquired about sustainability to real-life challenges [46]. Creative personality traits can develop when successes and failures have been experienced and properly processed.

For this reason, the Academy of Creativity and Innovation (ACI) at the University of Education Upper Austria has been organizing its own challenges since 2020. Secondary 1 and 2 students, whose teachers participate in the InFOCUS teacher training program, take part in the challenge, and face a real-life challenge in the context of the SDGs.

To complete the challenge, students work in a variety of formats, depending on the school. The student teams either work in specially created courses or as part of a suitable subject. Depending on the framework conditions, the students work on the challenge for a few weeks, a semester, or an entire school year. Regardless of the length of time the student teams spend on the challenge, the process can be divided into five phases: (1) problem finding, (2) generating creative ideas, (3) creating prototypes, (4) pitching the results and their prototypes, and (5) realizing a prototype (optional). The individual phases are described in detail below.

(1)

Problem finding: During the challenge, the students work in teams and either define the challenge themselves or choose a problem from a pool provided by the ACI. All problems must be formulated in such a way that they meet three criteria: (1) context relevant to the SDGs, (2) prospect of original solutions, and (3) feasibility of implementation;

(2)

Generating creative ideas: The student teams work on innovative solutions to their problems as part of internal school courses. They are accompanied and supported by their teachers, who take on the role of process facilitators and use the appropriate techniques that they have learned in the teacher training courses as required;

(3)

Creating prototypes: The goal of the challenge is to create a conceptual prototype that is developed as part of a typical design-thinking process;

(4)

Presentations of the prototypes: To make their achievements visible, the teams first present their results at their own school during the World Creativity and Innovation Week organized by the United Nations. This event takes place annually on 15–21 April. The grand final presentation of all the developed prototypes is a pitch as part of a final event for the teachers who took part in the InFOCUS teacher training;

(5)

Realization of a prototype: The maximum implementation of the challenge is the realization of the project ideas. The school teams are trained in classic entrepreneurship strategies, which include drawing up a cost and financing plan and finding stakeholders.

Some example projects from the InFOCUS challenges from the years 2021 and 2022 are presented in the Results section (Section 4.4).

2.4. In-Service Teacher Training Program

To enable students to learn the techniques of the InFOCUS program, teachers are trained and supported in a special one-year training program.

Like the InFocus program, teacher training is divided into two stages, with each stage lasting one semester. Stage 1 begins with the kick-off, which is a three-day face-to-face meeting in which the teachers are familiarized with the content of the first stage of the InFOCUS program (see Section 2.1) by means of presentations and workshops.

After the kick-off, the teachers apply the acquired InFOCUS techniques to their student teams at their school. For this purpose, they work with elaborated worksheets on fictitious, general problems over three months. This allows the teachers to gain valuable experience in using the techniques while their students learn basic skills for creative problem solving.

To support the teachers in their work with the student teams, online reflections take place every six weeks, in which the participants report on their experiences and problems when using the InFOCUS techniques.

At the beginning of the second semester, Stage 2 of the program starts for both teachers and students. There is another three-day face-to-face meeting for teachers where they learn further techniques and content from the second stage of the program. The focus here is on project management, the effective supervision of student teams, and the basics of organizing a professional pitch.

Back at school, the teachers and their students now choose a real-life SDG challenge to tackle and solve. Under the guidance of their teachers, the students apply the InFOCUS techniques they have learned and develop original solutions. The final step in this second phase is the development of a prototype, which they present to all participants in the training program at a final event. A detailed description of the challenge process can be found in Section 2.4.

Online meetings between the teachers and their supervisors from the training team also take place regularly in this second stage, approximately every six weeks, to support them in their work with the students. The detailed procedure and its contents are shown in

Table 2. Contents of the first and second semesters.

Semester 1	Duration	Learning Objectives
1. Presence Phase	3 days	Promoting flexible thinking Applying creativity techniques Acquiring team competences Learning strategic tools
Online Meeting 1	3 h	Reflecting on teaching experiences with other course participants and supervisors
Online Meeting 2	3 h
Semester 2	Duration	Learning Objectives
2. Presence Phase	3 days	Finding and defining a problem Brainstorming and selecting ideas Building a prototype Presenting prototypes
Online Meeting 3	3 h	Reflecting on teaching experiences with other course participants and supervisors
Online Meeting 4	3 h
Action Day	3 h	Presenting the creative work and the prototype developed in their own school
Final Event	4 h	Presenting the results at the final event of the in-service teacher training program

.

Within a duration of nine months (approximately 50 contact hours) of a high practical component and the integrated co-learning mode, the course fulfills important criteria for effective ESD training [37,41,44].

3. Materials and Methods

Four research questions are addressed in this paper:

(1)

How effective is the InFOCUS program at the student level with regard to the development of prototypes as part of an ESD challenge?

(2)

How effective do the teachers participating in the training program rate the effectiveness of the individual tools from the InFOCUS program?

(3)

How much time is required for training the students and for working on a specific project or developing a prototype?

(4)

How do the participating students rate their interest, perceived competence, and effort with regard to the project work?

3.1. Participants

A total of 20 teachers participated in the study (see

Table 3. Overview of the participants.

	Teachers	Teams	Students
Secondary	19	60	270
Tertiary	1	4	22
Total	20	64	292

). Of these teachers, 19 worked at different Austrian schools (secondary level) and supervised 60 student teams with 270 students. One teacher was working at the University of Education and supervised four teams with 22 students (primary teaching, eighth semester).

3.2. Design

This study was conducted as an evaluation study, including quantitative methods. The evaluation of the InFOCUS program was conducted during an in-service teacher training program in the year 2021/2022, in which the teachers coached teams of students to solve different real-world problems. Evaluations took place at the end of the course when all projects were completed.

3.3. Instruments

3.3.1. Teacher Ratings

To assess how effective the teachers rated the individual techniques, an online questionnaire was administered to the teachers at the end of the project. They rated the effectiveness of each tool on a 5-point Likert scale (from “very low” (1) to “very high” (5)). A statistical program (SPSS VS 28.0.1.0) was used to analyze the data.

3.3.2. Teacher Documentation

All participating teachers were asked to write an online log of their implementation of the techniques and their work on the specific project. This enabled the research team to monitor whether the implementation was conducted as desired and, above all, how much time was invested in the individual phases.

3.3.3. Student Motivation

To assess students’ motivation to participate in the project, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI; [64]) questionnaire was used at the end of the project work. The questionnaire was conducted online and analyzed using a statistical program (SPSS).

3.3.4. Overall Effectiveness

The overall effectiveness of InFOCUS was assessed by determining how many teams succeeded in generating ideas for the respective problems and realizing them in the form of a prototype. The results of the actual realization of the prototype were not examined as part of the study, as this phase was completed in subsequent years.

4. Results

4.1. Overall Effectiveness and Descriptive Statistics

Regarding overall effectiveness, the results were very positive (for an overview, see

Table 4. Overview of the general conditions and effectiveness.

Teacher ID	Number of Supervised Students	Number of Supervised Teams	Number of Teams That Successfully Developed Prototypes	Average Number of Team Members
1	12	4	4	3.00 (SD = 0.00)
2	20	5	5	4.00 (SD = 0.00)
3	26	5	3	5.20 (SD = 0.45)
4	10	4	4	2.50 (SD = 0.58)
5	8	3	3	2.67 (SD = 0.58)
6	6	1	1	6.00 (SD = 0.00)
7	6	1	1	6.00 (SD = 0.00)
8	6	2	2	3.00 (SD = 0.00)
9	12	2	2	6.00 (SD = 0.00)
10	6	2	2	3.00 (SD = 0.00)
11	8	2	2	4.00 (SD = 0.00)
12	9	2	2	4.50 (SD = 0.71)
13	27	4	4	6.75 (SD = 0.96)
14	20	4	4	5.00 (SD = 0.00)
15	9	2	2	4.50 (SD = 0.71)
16	51	9	9	5.67 (SD = 0.50)
17	5	1	1	5.00 (SD = 0.00)
18	9	2	2	4.50 (SD = 0.71)
19	20	5	5	4.00 (SD = 0.00)
20	22	4	4	5.50 (SD = 0.58)
Total	292	64	62

). Of the 64 teams, 62 were able to develop prototypes. The students of two teams dropped out of the challenge, as their general school performance declined and they therefore had to devote their resources to relearning in other subjects. It was possible for the groups to leave the challenge, as the course was an additional school offer, and they volunteered for it.

The average number of team members was 4.56 (SD = 1.30). The majority of the teams had three, four, or six participants. The detailed distribution of team sizes is shown in Figure 2.

The study also measured the time teachers spent introducing their student teams to the InFOCUS program and practicing selected techniques on common problems. On average, teachers needed 5.5 h (SD = 1.29) of instruction to familiarize their students with the techniques. The average number of teaching hours required for the project work was 29 (SD = 7.8). In Figure 3, the average time required for the individual phases is shown.

4.2. Teacher Ratings

During the reflection meetings, all teachers reported that the InFOCUS tools proved to be very efficient and well implementable. This is also confirmed by the results of the survey, in which teachers rated the effectiveness of each InFOCUS tool on a 5-point Likert scale (from “very low” (1) to “very high” (5)).

As evident in

Table 5. Mean values of the estimated effectiveness of the individual tools.

InFOCUS Tool	Estimated Effectiveness
Thinkflex	4.14 (SD = 0.66)
Morphological Analysis	4.00 (SD = 0.96)
APIFOS	4.07 (SD = 0.73)
Clustering	3.93 (SD = 0.92)
Reversed Brainstorming	3.86 (SD = 1.10)
Picture Association	3.57 (SD = 0.94)
Design Thinking	4.57 (SD = 0.76)

, all techniques were rated positively—especially Thinkflex, APIFOS, and design thinking, which were rated very highly in terms of effectiveness.

4.3. Student Motivation

During the reflection meetings, the teachers reported that the students showed a high level of interest and motivation. This is also shown by the results of the IMI questionnaire. Here, the students were asked to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale whether certain statements, ranging from “not at all true” (1) to “very true” (5), applied. All subscales used show high mean values for the sum scores (see

Table 6. Mean sum scores of the three IMI subscales.

Subscale of IMI	Mean Sum Score
Interest/Enjoyment	30.02 (SD = 3.21) out of maximum 35
Perceived Competence	24.2 (SD = 3.39) out of maximum 30
Effort/Importance	20.3 (SD = 2.99) out of maximum 25

).

For example, for the interest/enjoyment subscale, which captures intrinsic motivation, the agreement for “I really enjoyed doing this project activity” reached a mean of 4.4 (SD = 0.56). In the case of the perceived competence subscale, which is assumed to be a positive predictor of both self-assessment and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation, approval for “I am satisfied with my performance on this project” reached a mean of 4.02 (SD = 0.74). In the case of effort/importance, the statement “I put a lot of effort into working on this project” was given a mean value of 4.02 (SD = 0.76).

4.4. Presentation of Selected Prototypes

Sixty-two student teams that took part in the InFOCUS Challenge in 2021 and 2022 were able to complete a prototype. Some successful example projects are presented below.

• Outdoor classroom: During the COVID-19 lockdown, one school team designed an outdoor classroom with the criterion of being very versatile. It had to be able to withstand all weather conditions and be suitable for a wide variety of working methods and as many subjects as possible;
• Energy production using lifting storage systems: One team of students worked on alternative energy generation and storage. The result was the idea of generating energy with movable floor panels in combination with a lifting storage system;
• Socially ingenious: One team considered innovative ideas for a “mobile social space” with creative tools for conflict resolution and the expression of opinions and feelings. The result was a mobile, self-built suitcase with numerous tools developed by the students themselves;
• Greening school walls: One team of students worked on the topic of climate and species protection. The idea of greening part of the school facade was developed to reduce the indoor temperature of the classroom and contribute to species conservation. Numerous prototypes were designed and built on a research wall;
• Smart waste separation system at school: One team produced ideas to motivate classmates to separate waste correctly at school. They developed a waste garbage can that used a scanner to recognize correctly deposited waste, whereby the depositor was credited on a chip. Incorrectly deposited waste was corrected using a separation system.

5. Discussion

For young people to become agents of change and active advocates of sustainable development, innovative teaching concepts and the development of specific teacher competences are required [47].

For this reason, the InFOCUS program was developed at the University of Education Upper Austria to promote transformative teaching, entrepreneurial education, and 21st-century skills. The InFOCUS program promotes creativity and innovation in secondary school students through course materials based on the principles of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The acronym FOCUS stands for flexibility, originality, creative personality, unconscious thinking, and strategies. Each area of the program represents essential elements of innovative problem solving and includes numerous tools and reflection instruments designed to support students in each area. Due to the wide variety of tools developed, selected, and available to students for every phrase of the innovation process, the program can be seen as a holistic arrangement: on a cognitive level, through the promotion of divergent thinking styles; on an emotional level, through metacognition of creative personality traits; on a social level, through the promotion of team competence; and on a strategic level, through the application of specific creativity techniques.

To enable students to learn InFOCUS techniques, teachers are trained and supported in a special one-year training program. In the first semester, teachers learn techniques from the InFOCUS program and pass them on to their students so that they can acquire basic skills for creative problem solving. In the second semester, teachers learn techniques for implementing a challenge-based learning approach in their lessons. This provides teachers with important skills to guide and mentor their teams of students during a challenge. In this InFOCUS challenge, the student teams are tasked with selecting a real-world problem related to the SDGs, developing innovative ideas to solve it, and creating a conceptual prototype using a design-thinking process.

This study examined the effectiveness of the program on 64 student teams from 19 secondary schools. It demonstrated the effectiveness of the InFOCUS program on several levels. At the teacher level, the results show that the teachers rated the tools taught as highly effective. Design thinking proved to be very helpful for teachers in terms of project management. In terms of promoting flexibility and originality, the Thinkflex, Morphological Analysis, and APIFOS tools achieved high levels of approval among teachers, with an average rating of over 4 on a 5-point Likert scale.

At the pupil level, the results showed that participation in the project was rated as highly motivating. This was the case for all three sub-levels, such as interest and enjoyment, perceived competence and effort, and importance. The high number of successfully implemented prototypes was impressive, as 62 out of 64 teams succeeded in developing a prototype and presenting it at the closing event.

The results regarding the time units spent on the entire program were interesting. The teams used an average of 5.5 teaching units for the first stage of the program—to teach the SDGs, getting to know the techniques, and for general training in divergent thinking. The 62 teams required an average of 29 teaching units for the second stage of the program—to work on a specific project as part of the challenge, from brainstorming to developing a prototype.

These results provide positive indications regarding feasibility at the classroom level and motivation at the student team level. The study of the InFOCUS program provides valuable insights for teachers and educational institutions alike. The results show that redesigning the curriculum toward more creativity and problem solving is not only feasible but also effective in preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century. It was shown that this activity-based and creativity-enhancing instructional program serves to promote education for sustainable development. This work adds to the literature by providing a practical approach to promoting key ESD skills in the classroom, similar to that discussed in other work on ESD [1,2].

As promising as the initial results are, certain limitations must be considered. In this study, only the successful creation of a prototype served as an indicator of effectiveness. How successfully these prototypes could be realized was not recorded in the study. Furthermore, the study was not conducted in a classic intervention design with control and intervention groups, which limits the significance of its effectiveness. It must be mentioned that the results do not allow any predictions to be made about the effectiveness of the individual techniques of the InFOCUS program.

Therefore, further research could focus on evaluating the effectiveness of each individual tool. For example, it would be interesting to determine which tools have the greatest impact on promoting ESD skills. In addition, future studies could investigate the extent to which divergent thinking and creative problem-solving skills change. In a study by Zhi Yang et al. [65], the self-assessment of innovative ability and creativity in nurses improved as a result of participation in a challenge-based learning course. It would also be interesting to conduct research that focuses on the long-term effects of the program on students’ careers. In addition, the student teams should also be supervised and researched during the period after the challenge, during which they realize the prototype. Even if the InFOCUS program contributes to the development of specific ESD competences, a longer-term program is more beneficial for the holistic development of sustainability [66].

In the future, the ACI will also consider offering specific problems for the InFOCUS Challenge on which several student teams from different schools can work. This would enable and promote cooperation and exchange between students from different locations, which, in turn, would increase motivation and creative performance.

Because the InFOCUS program has also integrated elements of the SCIP program, which was developed specifically to promote scientific creativity, the aim is to train STEM teachers through the in-service training program and to research its impact on STEM teaching. With regard to the effectiveness of the program, gender-specific or age-related factors should also be investigated.

Furthermore, it would be interesting to investigate how the InFOCUS program can be implemented and adapted in different cultural and educational contexts. To this end, the authors are considering the development of a curriculum for an on-demand training program for teachers and students. Thus, following a proposal by Shu et al. [50], a curriculum could be developed whose main value is sustainable human development and transforming students from “thinkers to creative doers”.

This work makes an important contribution to promoting creativity and innovation in schools in the context of Education for Sustainable Development. Through the development and creation of numerous teaching techniques and reflection tools, the program can be easily integrated into the classroom and serves as an ideal guide for leading and supporting student teams throughout the creative process. Thus, the InFOCUS program offers a promising practical approach that contributes to the further development of education for sustainable development.